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[Fowler]

The sad part about this game is it has moments where it totally works.

Verbal jousting with Cersei, for instance; I realise that in Telltaleland, you will lose no matter how you play. But when you're talking to Cersei, it makes sense that she'd always find a way to twist your words and verbally screw you no matter what you say, right?

Unfortunately, there's little else that works. The whole thing just feels really pointless; other than the first time it happens, it's hard to care when a major character dies. And the story doesn't really feel like it ever goes anywhere.

 

[zkorejo]

That was the last Telltale game I played. This is where I realized I didn't enjoy Telltale games anymore.

 

[The Artisan]

Based off of most of the responses it sounds like if I were to enjoy this game, it'd be as a Thrones enthusiast, not a gamer

 

[TheYanger]

Based off of most of the responses it sounds like if I were to enjoy this game, it'd be as a Thrones enthusiast, not a gamer

Pretty much. It's the worst telltale game by a landslide (that I've played anyway) but it's also GREATLY enhanced depending on your care level of the GOT material.

compare it to something like TWAU which I suspect most people had little to no attachment to going in and it was great despite that fact, or borderlands which had a license that some people don't even enjoy anymore but still liked the game. All comes down to the writing.

 

[LiquidSolid]

Wait, there are some people who liked this crap? God, what I horribly written game. All the playable characters all conveniently run into the main characters from the show, as if they're Forrest Gump. Characters are treated as disposable in a way that resembles Walking Dead far more than ASoIaF/GoT. None of your choices make any difference. The art style sucks. The engine runs worse than ever (up until Batman anyway). And it all just falls apart at the end.

This is the game that relegated all future Telltale games to bargain bin material for me.

 

[Fowler]

Based off of most of the responses it sounds like if I were to enjoy this game, it'd be as a Thrones enthusiast, not a gamer

I'm a huge ASOIAF guy, and... no, it's not that enjoyable from that point of view either.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Weakest Telltale game since they begun their cycle with TWD S1. They were super lazy with the choices and consequences (play it more than once and you'll see, even other Telltale games offer more), looks awful at times, battles are very campy (it's the engine not being able to handle more than a dozen characters on screen). Also for a GoT game it's unacceptable to have no sex and nudity. ;p

 

[Back-In-Black]

Based off of most of the responses it sounds like if I were to enjoy this game, it'd be as a Thrones enthusiast, not a gamer

Eh, as I said I'm a big Thrones fan of both the show and the books and I HATED it. I think as such a big fan the leaps they take with the logic stand out even more to me which adds to the other disappointing elements in the story. For instance, characters traveling from one side of the world to the other in basically a week. Politics that don't make any goddamn sense. Characters that act completely out of character. All that sort of stuff dampens the experience on an already so-so story that basically has you replaying the Stark family horror experience but not as the Starks. This, of course, on top of the fact that like the majority of TT games your decisions don't mean jack shit but in this game they do an even worse job at hiding this fact.

 

[Kazooie]

I thought it was poor. In A Song of Ice and Fire you have flawed characters and fantastic writing. In this game they just decided to make Ramsey in to Jason Voorhees and clapped themselves on the back. They completely missed what makes ASOIAF great.

 

[Back-In-Black]

I thought it was poor. In A Song of Ice and Fire you have flawed characters and fantastic writing. In this game they just decided to make Ramsey in to Jason Voorhees and clapped themselves on the back. They completely missed what makes ASOIAF great.

Not to mention the fact that his actions make no sense. Hey, let me terrorize my father's new vassal Houses for no reason. It's not like there's a war on or anything.

 

[Sober]

I thought it was poor. In A Song of Ice and Fire you have flawed characters and fantastic writing. In this game they just decided to make Ramsey in to Jason Voorhees and clapped themselves on the back. They completely missed what makes ASOIAF great.

I think I liked the main family considerably except most of the time they felt like budget Starks in a sense. But the dynamic obviously made for good Telltale adventure C&C gameplay.

And yes Ramsey Bolton in the game is like literally a deus ex machina shitting in your breakfast cereal in this game. Like the real Ramsey Bolton, it got a bit grating as it went on.

The only perspective I think I enjoyed was King's Landing because you were way more different than just a copy of Sansa Stark in it.

Spoiler

But I have to assume if the same characters are coming back for a S2, really it's only one of the older brothers and the Night's Watch north of the wall that actually survive to the end of S1 no matter what.

 

[Infinite Stars]

I thought it was poor. In A Song of Ice and Fire you have flawed characters and fantastic writing. In this game they just decided to make Ramsey in to Jason Voorhees and clapped themselves on the back. They completely missed what makes ASOIAF great.

Basically this.

What they should have done, even if it had issues, is have the main narrative not try to involve all 3+ narratives. Imagine if we played as a small house in Dorne, with a daughter being left in King's landing and a brother sent to find Daenerys. That's a story that doesn't shoe horn in all the shit they did, while still having room for a compelling narrative.

 

[DrXym]

I got to about episode 5 and gave up. None of my choices seemed to have any meaningful consequences whatsoever. Yeah some of the words and scenes were different depending if I picked A or B but it all just joined up again.

These modern TellTale "games" are such a waste of time IMO.

 

[Fowler]

I got to about episode 5 and gave up. None of my choices seemed to have any meaningful consequences whatsoever. Yeah some of the words and scenes were different depending if I picked A or B but it all just joined up again.

These modern TellTale "games" are such a waste of time IMO.

Yeah, this is the sad thing with Telltale. They keep pumping out games based on franchises I LOVE, but the formula hasn't really worked for anything beyond Walking Dead S1.

 

[Spades]

I didn't like it.

Same. My least favourite TT game for sure.

 

[Plasma]

For me it felt like the worst game they'd put out since Jurassic Park.

 

[Nielm]

I haven't played a TellTale game since.

The quality of their games seems to have dropped since Tales From The Borderlands.

 

[Theorry]

GoT is still one of my favorites. The feeling that you were in the world of GoT was perfect.

 

[SchrodingerC]

Weakest Telltale game since they begun their cycle with TWD S1. They were super lazy with the choices and consequences (play it more than once and you'll see, even other Telltale games offer more), looks awful at times, battles are very campy (it's the engine not being able to handle more than a dozen characters on screen). Also for a GoT game it's unacceptable to have no sex and nudity. ;p

As if anyone wants to see sex scenes rendered in the Telltale engine.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Worst Telltale game I've played. Besides the fact that it looks like a PS2 game, it just isn't appealing to play as a background extra in an episode of Game of Thrones.

Like The Walking Dead it never matters that you aren't with Rick and co because it's not central to the world.

Game of Thrones there's a massive overarching narrative, where the central characters directly affect the world around them in a huge way. Playing as a secondary character in a plot that will definitely have no links to the main storyline is just not appealing in any way.

And no amount of "Peter Dinklage falls asleep in a recording studio" gasp moments save it.

 

[TheYanger]

Worst Telltale game I've played. Besides the fact that it looks like a PS2 game, it just isn't appealing to play as a background extra in an episode of Game of Thrones.

Like The Walking Dead it never matters that you aren't with Rick and co because it's not central to the world.

Game of Thrones there's a massive overarching narrative, where the central characters directly affect the world around them in a huge way. Playing as a secondary character in a plot that will definitely have no links to the main storyline is just not appealing in any way.

And no amount of "Peter Dinklage falls asleep in a recording studio" gasp moments save it.

The GoT "narrative" is no more central to the world than Walking Dead's. It's super reductive to pretend that there aren't other interesting stories to tell in that setting.

 

[ConfirmationBiased]

The GoT "narrative" is no more central to the world than Walking Dead's. It's super reductive to pretend that there aren't other interesting stories to tell in that setting.

The movers and shakers of Westeros are all major characters in the show. If the game wanted to avoid using these characters, they'd have to try hard to reduce the scale of what actually happens in the game. Either have a story take place in someone's backyard in Westeros, or set a story in Braavos or the Free Cities that is free from the influence of Daenerys or the Iron Throne (but at that point, might as well be set in a different universe). Just about every other place in the world would not allow your actions to have significant consequences in the way the show's developments do. Telltale's hands were basically tied, despite how much of a great opportunity the GoT licence may appear to be.

The Walking Dead then, is not a show about the most influential figures in a world spanning multiple continents. Geopolitics aren't a draw in that show. So I really don't see the comparison.

Having said that, I think Mira's story in Telltale's GoT proves it is possible to tell a story within an overarching story that you have no influence on. Cause you know, no one really cares what happens to Mira except for the player, and it's not like Mira wants to become Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. I also liked to see major show developments influencing your story in the game, such as what happens with Tyrion.

Ramsay Snow is where they got it very, very wrong however, for the many reasons stated. I still believe that in reality, I would be able to reason with the bastard better than the game allows you to. He's actively hurting himself. Please Telltale, let me help him and save my family in the process.

 

[openrob]

It's actually a lot like Fallout 4, which was highly criticized for the same thing. Once people started saving and loading and trying out different options, it turned out every dialogue choice was basically "yes tell me more" except one of the options was a little bit sarcastic. It worked very similarly to Telltale games, where the next line of dialogue from your protagonist and the response were unique, but didn't impact future dialogue, and they immediately go on to the next thing they were going to say anyway.

Sometimes the illusion of choice is enough. When it's too exposed or becomes too obvious that it's just an illusion, it can be a disappointment.

I think what makes the illusion entertaining is that you do have a choice, just that the choice may not have consequence, but the choice is enough.

With choice you have the pressure, the immediacy. What would YOU say in that scenario.

It's fine, as long as you don't replay it XD

 

[DrXym]

I think what makes the illusion entertaining is that you do have a choice, just that the choice may not have consequence, but the choice is enough.

With choice you have the pressure, the immediacy. What would YOU say in that scenario.

It's fine, as long as you don't replay it XD

Nope. I basically picked the worst options on the first conversation in Fallout 4 with the shelter salesman - get lost, get lost, GTFO, GTFO etc. I still ended up getting signed up for a shelter.

What the hell is the point of dialogue if it has zero consequence? If I tell a guy to fuck off and die, then it should lead to the consequence of that. i.e. in Fallout 4's case, an "oh dear you died in a nuclear blast" scenario. No an "oh dear we ignored everything you said and pretended you said the complete opposite because we're too lazy to code to alternate outcomes, even on the first significant conversation" scenario. They may as well have removed all options in conversation after that point because it was clear they were simply wasting my time.

Telltale is even worse than that x10. Nothing matters. Providing you pass some quicktime events you could mash the options randomly and still win. It's not a game.

 

[WrenchNinja]

I think the biggest mistake they made with this game was slipping this into the current ASOIAF/Game of Thrones storyline. The cameo characters just seem really forced and the Forresters come off as discount Starks

What they should have done was taken a KotoR like approach and set the game in a different time period, they would be less beholden to events in the show and book and they can rely on the more vague events that are only mentioned within the universe. It would also be a way to show stuff that the show will never do like Dunk and Egg.

 

[antitrop]

Yeah, this is the sad thing with Telltale. They keep pumping out games based on franchises I LOVE, but the formula hasn't really worked for anything beyond Walking Dead S1.

Tales from the Borderlands was fucking incredible and I don't even like Borderlands.

Wolf Among Us was top-notch, as well. I've heard great things about Batman, but I refuse to play it at 20fps, so whatever, I'll never know for sure.

 

[Blue Ninja]

This game is the sole reason I haven't touched any other Telltale stuff since then. Got completely burnt out on the formula. I think I finished episode 4, never finished the entire season.

Shame, really, as I thought it had a lot of promise. It never really managed to grip me, though, and the TV show cameos were too much.

I'd buy a new Tales from the Borderlands or Wolf Among Us right away, though.

 

[Camp Freddie]

IMO, the biggest problem was that the whole thing is just a setup for series 2.

There's also some harsh character 180's where they act like you've made a character change but I'm the next scene they revert to their canon douchebag mode. It's a bit like they saw the Red Wedding episode and decided that GOT=everybody betrays everyone and the good people die.

Also, Lord Whitehall is Trump with a Yorkshire accent.

I might pick up season 2 if the reviews are good and if it actually has an ending, rather than just trying to set up a season 3.

 

[Herne]

I loved it, even though it certainly has it's problems. I love Rodrik's story and I can't wait to see it continue with the next season.

 

[CloudWolf]

This game was horrible. Granted, I did not finish it (lost my progress due to a crash in the final episode that wiped all my saves), but everything leading up to the final episode was an amazing display of piss-poor writing. You cannot make a plotline revolve around there being a traitor and then making the identity of that traitor depend on player-choice. Aside from it causing that character do a complete 180, it also makes for a far less engaging storyline. It would've been way more powerful if you actually could've picked the traitor and accidentally let him in on your biggest secrets. But nope, the traitor has got to be the one you didn't pick as your right hand man. Fuck that.

Also, did the Beyond the Wall plot actually go somewhere in the last episode? Because that was a complete waste of time. Episode 1: 'You gotta find the Northern Grove because of reasons!', four episodes and eight hours later: 'Say, does anyone actually know where the Northern Grove is?'

 

[Eirulan]

I played through all six episodes the last evenings (for the first time) and think it was a massive waste of time. And I really love the show.

 

[Rooster]

Game just wasn't fun. Every choice you are given, regardless of how you choose, something fucking awful happens to you. The game pretending I could have influenced things to go another way made that shit aggravating.

 

[Theorry]

Didnt know that so many people didnt like this game. All my friends and me loved it.
The GoT world they made was great. Like you were in the show.

 

[CloudWolf]

Game just wasn't fun. Every choice you are given, regardless of how you choose, something fucking awful happens to you. The game pretending I could have influenced things to go another way made that shit aggravating.

This is a common problem with people who completely misunderstand what Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire is. People see Ned Stark, The Red Wedding and Ramsay and quickly conclude 'lol, everybody dies and evil dudes win', which isn't at all what the source texts are like. The writers of this game and occassionally the writers of the show are guilty of this.

 

[Chaos17]

The Ramsay plot armor made 80% of the story pointless

This.

I think what makes the illusion entertaining is that you do have a choice, just that the choice may not have consequence, but the choice is enough.

With choice you have the pressure, the immediacy. What would YOU say in that scenario.

It's fine, as long as you don't replay it XD

Yet, they're marketting their games as the choices DO REALLY MATTER.
But in the end they don't really.
So no really, I will never defend this formula that Telltale is abusing and sell it really expensive.
Better buy whole season for cheap if you just wanna play your "own tv episode" but never expect to have a real influence on the ending.

Play Witcher serie is you want real consequences.

 

[Cronen]

I didn't like it. The game would seemingly just put you in to situations where you would have to choose between Bad Option A, or Bad Option B, and then a character would berate you for the choice that you picked. I realise that is Telltale's games in a nutshell, but I don't know - it just felt more obvious with this game.

 

[sam777]

It ain't the best Telltale game but it is not the worst either. Regarding choices do they even matter in any Telltale game? As the story will always end up finishing the same for everyone.

 

[RaginRoss]

I enjoyed it.

Choices not having a gigantic effect doesn't bother me too much - I just like seeing the overall story and having a small impact on minor parts. A large part of that is the license though - I wouldn't have liked it nearly as much if it had just been a generic fantasy setting or if I wasn't already a massive ASOIAF / GoT fan.

 

[BeeNee101]

I thought it was all a bit slow and boring. It had it's moments, and I enjoyed episode 1, but I found it a real chore to finish. The characters were inconsistent and the ending was really flat.

 

[Haunted]

The animation work and camera direction in this game were so damn amateurish, I really didn't like it and stopped playing after two episodes.

Just poorly done.

 

[danm999]

Didn't like it.

A huge ASoIaF fire who was ecstatic TT got the series. But instead of something new or interesting, they made some B tier adventure with too many characters with plot armour or pre determines fates. I mean seriously why would I

Spoiler

support Tyrion at court if I know he's going to be blamed shortly for Joffreys death. Why would I try and kill Ramsay if I know he's going to survive for years on the show.

It's a series that effectively negates the narrative unpredictability of ASoIaF and highlights how hollow TT decision making actually is. Didn't have to be this way either. You have thousands of years of Westerosi history you could have set this thing in.

 

[The Artisan]

Pretty much. It's the worst telltale game by a landslide (that I've played anyway) but it's also GREATLY enhanced depending on your care level of the GOT material.

compare it to something like TWAU which I suspect most people had little to no attachment to going in and it was great despite that fact, or borderlands which had a license that some people don't even enjoy anymore but still liked the game. All comes down to the writing.

how is it greatly enhanced based on how big a of a asoiaf fan you are?

I started playing this shit a few days ago and as a game i'm not that impressed, the graphics are shit (not a fan of the art direction either tbh) and the gameplay is really slow (although thus far i've only played it through remote play) BUT the story has got me captivated. i wanna keep playing to see what happens next and even though my choices don't matter or whatever i still feel inclined to make these decisions and know what happens next.

it might come to the point where i won't feel like playing it again unless it's rather easy to get the fuckin platinum

I'm a huge ASOIAF guy, and... no, it's not that enjoyable from that point of view either.

why not?

Eh, as I said I'm a big Thrones fan of both the show and the books and I HATED it. I think as such a big fan the leaps they take with the logic stand out even more to me which adds to the other disappointing elements in the story. For instance, characters traveling from one side of the world to the other in basically a week. Politics that don't make any goddamn sense. Characters that act completely out of character. All that sort of stuff dampens the experience on an already so-so story that basically has you replaying the Stark family horror experience but not as the Starks. This, of course, on top of the fact that like the majority of TT games your decisions don't mean jack shit but in this game they do an even worse job at hiding this fact.

well honestly as far as traveling distances go, they do that on the show too, with jaime. he goes from one place to another often, you know. so far i think the game is okay but i'll reserve judgement when i'm done with it.